Gov. Gavin Newsom (D-CA) declared a state of emergency Saturday afternoon in Orange County, California, due to a chemical leak at an aerospace facility.Overheated tanks at risk of exploding have prompted emergency response efforts and evacuations in Garden Grove after local responders first attempted to cool the tanks on Thursday. 40,000 people have since been told to evacuate the county due to the explosion risk.Craig Covey, an incident commander for the Orange County Fire Authority, said in its first public announcement that the responders face two options, both of which threaten the safety of the local community.
“One, the tank fails and spills a total of about six to seven thousand gallons of very bad chemicals into the parking lot in that area. Or two, the tank goes into a thermal runaway and blows up, affecting the tanks that are around it that have fuel or chemicals in them as well.”
In an update posted to social media late Saturday night, Covey said “the biggest focus, as always, is constantly about public safety. We’re doing everything we can to ensure all of you are out of harm’s way, and we’re trying to mitigate this incident.”
He says the goal is to prevent any further leakage from harming homes and the environment, noting that it could reach the ocean.
